April 1, 2022

Apprenticeships – An Old World Solution Looks To Fill A New World Talent GAP

Many years ago marquardt+ was looking for a new part time bookkeeper.

After posting the job listing in the usual places and getting disappointing applicants I told my team we needed to rethink this. They asked me how would I describe my ideal candidate since those coming in based on the present description were not cutting it.

I said that I imagined someone retired, who had faithfully worked for one employer for all of their career (commitment) and for a local business like a small Chicago industrial manufacturer (toughness).

My ideal candidate would be someone raised by a Chicago law enforcement or city union employee family and chain smoked and wore half glasses with chains. They would speak with a gruff gravelly voice tinted with a Chicago accent.

They would only want part time work which they could perform blindfolded and get out of the house to make extra money. In return they would provide us with superior bookkeeping know how.

They would also bring the studio fresh homemade baked goods and the periodic casserole, parent the team whether they wanted it or not and would never take shade from venders, clients or the IRS (Think actress Colleen Dewhurst in the movie Ice Castles or actress Eileen Stritch in anything).

Of course they would be required to immediately become close friends with our accountant Sharon in Milwaukee and join her to attend Milwaukee Brewers baseball games whenever possible, though this ideal bookkeeper would by nature be a diehard White Sox Fan.

Well, my business manager told me there was no way we could list qualifications like that publically or legally and to let her come up with a better solution…

Apprenticeships Benefit Everyone

So my business manager came back to us the next day and suggested we list the bookkeeping position as a paid apprenticeship.

We would list the position with large accounting schools on their job boards here in Chicago. We would ask for the best 1st or 2nd year students who were looking for the experience of creating and evolving a complete bookkeeping system for a small business, mentored by my business manager and our accountant.

We could set a apprenticeship duration or keep them as employees as long as they wanted or until they secured their first professional position after graduation.

This apprenticeship would provide the student with real world responsibilities few other part time positions would offer.

This process would also allow us to develop a relationship with the accounting schools placement offices as a source for student replacements so our existing apprentice would help train their replacements before moving on.

With the poorly qualified candidates we were interviewing I didn’t see a downside so we listed the position as a paid apprenticeship with three major Chicago university accounting programs.

This included DePaul where the position ended up on their old school cork pin up job board in the accounting school hallway outside their placement office.

After barely a week we received a call directly from a candidate asking for an interview. Ironically the applicants were to apply thru the job placement office who would assemble the qualified students resumes for us to select from and schedule.

The caller was a young man named Nick who after explaining his interest in the apprenticeship, and before we could ask informed us he was NOT a DePaul university accounting student. His older brother was an accounting major attending DePaul and Nick went in with him one day to look at the job board for part time work.

He then revealed he was still in high school.

Well the fact that he was so forthright and focused with his job search, smart enough to figure out our contact info from a blind listing and confident enough to call us directly had us intrigued, so we asked him to come in for an interview.

When Nick arrived we were struck by his professionalism and courtesy. He spoke with the maturity of someone twice his age.

When we were describing the job requirements and responsibilities he asked if he could see our current bookkeeping. He wanted to understand how we had been doing it and possibly provide us with some ideas of how he might approach evolving the system if hired.

He looked over the paperwork and started to excitedly tell us about various ways he could improve our bookkeeping and financial tracking to work for our project managers and integrate with our contracts.

We both must of had glazed looks in our eyes feeling puzzled and not really understanding what is he was trying to tell us.

Seeing this, he stopped and asked for a piece of paper.  He took it and started to hand sketch visuals of the accounting concepts right in front of us as he re-explained in more layman’s terms what he was thinking. In essence he realized we were visual people and shifted his ideas to visual representations to communicate in a way we could understand.

I of course wanted to hire him on the spot.

But my business manager said wait and finished the interview, saying that we would be following up with him once we contact his reference.

Yes, he only had one reference. And his reference happened to be the CFO of a major Chicago manufacturing company and also his father.

So we called his reference right after Nick left, who was expecting to hear from us.

He asked if we were surprised by Nick. Apparently this was his first job interview and the position was a perfect opportunity for Nick and his exceptional financial skills. His father reassured us that he would take responsibility and look over Nick’s work and was confident his son could do the job.

He also told us Nick had been trading his own stocks since he was 12 years old. We called Nick right away and offered him the position.

Nick met with our accountant, learned the system and developed more effective data breakdowns and monthly reports we hadn’t considered before he started. He ran everything flawlessly staying on with us for 6 years thru his undergraduate and graduate accounting degree studies.

When he went off to Notre Dame for graduate school he continued to return from Indiana every month to do our books.

It was no surprise that Nick landed a position in the financial banking industry, and used us as a reference. I couldn’t be prouder that to this day he still lists his marquardt+ position on his LinkedIn profile.

Design and Architecture Apprenticeships

I tell the bookkeeper story because apparently my business manager had been observing how we hired and worked with many of our best design talent with what was essentially a paid apprenticeship model.

This is what inspired her to suggest we make the bookkeeping position an apprenticeship.

We would discover potential design team candidates among my students while teaching at Harrington and then Columbia College. Other m+ senior team members would guest lecture and critique at architecture and design programs and do the same. We also have provided paid internships to students for short term design assistance and competitions. Then if we had the need we would keep those interested as part time apprentices.

Our goal with any entry level hire is to find truly impassioned people who bring new found thinking and energy into the business and work.

I always appreciate those who speak up and are willing to challenge our thinking for the betterment of the work.

And a team of big mouths who learn how to respectfully speak up and have something valuable to contribute are the best. 

Students with these attributes are much easier to find and just desire the opportunity for some real participation for their work and ideas to shine.

We help them develop full skill sets to address any and all aspects of the design project process saddling them with way more responsibilities and authority than they would ever be given in an entry level position at most other firms.

Our senior team are always there to back them up to mentor and guide them so stay on point to at such an entry level be able to design, execute and project manage work; some within a month of starting with us.

We have evolved some exceptional and reputable talent over the years.

Anyone who knows our practice and is considering hiring a designer who lists marquardt+ on their resume knows the abilities those candidates will bring with them. We are proud of that reputation and though it means some of our apprentices leave for new positions right after graduation everyone involved benefits from their time with us.

Also, many of these former apprentices have stayed on with us anywhere from 2-8 years. Considering the turnover at many other practices we have done quite well for a small business with our approach to young talent.

Some of our senior talent are old enough to have started with the traditional paid apprenticeships at a time when this was how almost everyone entered the design and architecture field.

Senior lead Vince Gammino attended Boys Tech high school here in Chicago (now known as Lane Tech) when the school offered an architectural drafting program track to students whom were interested as early as freshman year.

Vince secured his first paid part time architectural apprenticeship thru Boys Tech with Lester Johnson at the age of 14 in 1966.

He apprenticed with Johnson thru most of his college studies and came to his first interviews after college with 8 years more experience than someone applying for their first job after graduation. It is really something to think that Vince can say this year that he has clocked 56 years of experience in the industry.

The Value of Investing Now in Our Workforce of the Future

We now live in a time where there are way more positions than qualified candidates.

College degree studies have become exorbitant and out of line with the earnings many graduates find upon graduation. This can be especially true for design and architecture school tuitions.

And many new graduates without a professional employment background lack the basic business communication and people skills essential in the business of design and business in general, even those graduating from the most respected academic institutions.

Large corporate architecture and design practices focused on quarterly reports and stock dividends lack the financial motivation to dedicate the hours and leadership focus needed to effectively provide mentorship to retain and improve their employees, even when they HAVE mentorship programs.

Witnessing high employee turnover at large design practices is a shocking yet unsurprising symptom in our industry.  I am confident it is the same in many other areas of business as well.

The irony is that doing so may be one of the most important employee investments a business can make. 

Paid apprenticeships and employment with a high level of mentorship could increase the profits businesses fear losing by reducing turnover.  Remember, high turnover forces understaffing and increases the remaining employees workloads causing increased errors and omissions and burnout, not even counting the cost of the hiring process itself from the interview process to onboarding and training to replace those who leave as a result, and well, you see the cycle.

The financial drain alone should be motivation enough for systemic change.

Yet many in leadership and the c-suite still do not recognize the value of a human return on investment, much less are willing to spend the accounting time and resources to quantify this financial loss and expose the causes of high turnover that would provide proof to the most fastidious of bean counters to implement a major change.

Thus, high turnover from years of not TRUELY investing in employees and their mentorship and growth has led to a whole new generation of employees unwilling to invest in an employer beyond what that employer invests in them.

They see the fallacy in the expectation of corporate allegiance demanded by many employers.

This is a far cry from a time when employees were truly treated like a primary investment, if not family, who came before stockholders, leadership dividends and the profit at any cost approach to business.

It is no surprise that employees allegiance and commitment to their employers has dwindled since the 1980s.

The current generation has no problem leaving a position should they find themselves and their teams understaffed and overworked much less without support and good mentorship.

There is always another employer looking to poach employees away with offers of money, titles (and a better selection of free cereals in their cafe lounge every morning).

Continuous mentorship whether delivered thru paid apprenticeships, internships or general employment can become the most impactful benefit a business can provide. 

It is important here to distinguish between the investment in people thru paid apprenticeships versus internships.  Quoting the US Department of Labor Apprenticeships are paid experiences that often lead to full-time employment. Internships are often unpaid and may not lead to a full-time job.

Unpaid internships in design and business in general are the subject of ongoing discussions especially on LinkedIn. Justifying non-paid internships because the firm is providing interns a free educational experience  seems questionable to say the least, especially by financially successful businesses who could easily afford providing a basic wage.

Considering what I have witnessed some businesses assign unpaid interns, from cleaning and garbage detail to preparing coffee and picking up dry cleaning, I would venture to say it is basic slavery not a free educational experience.

And for those who do not agree consult your attorney or accountant or better yet the IRS and ask them how they define it.

And Then Along Came Gensler

So, when I came across the posting on LinkedIn by Gensler this month inviting candidates to apply to the new Gensler Apprenticeship Program (GAP) I was motivated to write this article about my experiences and thoughts about apprenticeships and to congratulate the big G on this initiative.

This is such an inspiring development and smart move not only for Gensler but for our industry at large to open up to and consider implementing as well.

Paid apprenticeships like GAP have the power to become the best employment investment Gensler could make, by nurturing potential long term employees trained in the Gensler way directly out of high school.

GAP could set a benchmark for hands on training in our industry that bypasses the traditional educational requirements and reduces the use of traditional internships that barely expose people to the full process of the business of design.

Know that I am the first one to defend pursuing advanced education. A college degree whether two or four years or beyond can open eyes and teach students how to think, create, communicate, comprehend and solve problems. Much of it comes down to the program, professors and instructors.

But has getting a degree whether in liberal arts, professional services or technical trades ever been a guarantee of talent or success?

Hopefully those administering and mentoring GAP understand the difference between education and instruction.

The success of any apprenticeship program will be how one is educated in the apprenticeship process. Problems occur when the term education is used interchangeably with instruction and it may be useful for apprenticeship mentors to think about the difference.

Instruction trains people how to perform specific tasks in a specific context.

However education becomes critical in a complex technological environment where workers have to draw on imagination, creativity and processes to be able to synthesize solutions that are social, technological and environmental, and apprentices will need more than basic training even if they are doing just a small portion of the overall work.

If you are just performing tasks you are not problem solving. Problem solving is the synthesis that solves problems which in essence is the definition of design.

For example, if a draftsman is just implementing redmark changes handed to them in Revit or AutoCad to develop software skill sets and are not being taught to understand WHY the changes are being made, they miss both a learning opportunity to think about what they are drawing and HOW it impacts and connects to the overall design.

By understanding what, how and why they are making changes they will take ownership, think holistically  and prevent errors and omissions in their work and that of their team.

In the end I find Gensler’s return to this age old job training model decidedly reassuring. And if one of the world’s largest practices can provide well rounded paid apprenticeships and do it as well as our small practice has done for multiple decades, then so can other design practices and more so businesses well outside our specific industry.

All it takes is some foresight, hindsight and a willingness to make a long term investment past the quarterly profit-loss spreadsheet like my business manager did with our bookkeeper challenge.

I look forward to hearing about how this program evolves for Gensler and hope they are willing to be transparent and share the ongoing results of their first GAP program, maybe as a case study for both their clients and the greater industry to learn from and model.

So, what is old is new. What a way to fill the GAP Gensler!

ABOUT GAP (Gensler’s Apprenticeship Program)

Launching in Fall 2022, GAP is a 2-year, hands-on, paid apprenticeship program for high school graduates (or GED equivalent) looking for a path into the design industry that doesn’t require an advanced degree.

Led by Gensler Chicago, GAP Apprentices will receive software training, work on real projects with real teams of architects and designers, and rotate through our studios and support disciplines to receive a well-rounded, rigorous, real-world design education.

This is a 32-hour per week, paid opportunity, with benefits. The program will begin in August, 2022 and run through June, 2024. You must be available for the entire duration of the contract.

Upon completion, apprentices can feel confident they have acquired the necessary skills and training to apply for a full-time position within Gensler, or use the network they’ve built throughout the program to uncover other career opportunities in the industry.

Gensler is an architecture, design, and planning firm with 49 locations across the globe. Guided by determined optimism, we believe the power of design can spark positive change and create a future that promotes equity, resilience, and wellbeing for everyone.